For some reason Garrett decided to click away at me during the sermon…which brought to mind two things.
1. I forget to suck my gut in while I preach. Come on…if you are a 40+ year old dude you KNOW what I’m talking about. :-)
2. The most powerful thing we can do as a church is make God’s word clear and accessible on Sunday morning-and put it into practice during the week. Period. The words on the screens are more than “information”. They are not “theory”. The scriptures on the screens are direction for all of us, both as a church…and as individuals.
Living out scripture is messy. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable. God’s ways often seem “unreasonable” in 2010. I believe they are still the ONLY way to successfully navigate life.
If you’ve missed the last two weeks of the “So help me God” series let me recap it for you. Nehemiah became concerned with what God was concerned about. His heart broke for the things that broke Gods heart. He prayed to God and acted on his prayers. God blessed him with all the resources he needed to build the wall around Jerusalem. The work began “with great enthusiam”. Everyone wanted to be part of the cause. Then all hell broke loose. Opposition came. Critics critiqued. The volunteer builders became tired…discouraged. They were afraid that their efforts would be for nothing…that there was no way they could finish their monumental task with such a small number of people. “The Middle” is a very tough place to be. Even the MIDDLE of a Miracle.
I believe as a church we are in the middle of a Miracle. I’m staking everything on the fact that God has always provided for us as a church in the past (the fact that we exist as a church is amazing in itself!) and will continue to do so in the future. We need a new place to meet. God will provide. We will proceed “By the Book”.
I know from some conversations I had this week that many of you are also “in the middle” in situations in your lives. Let’s pray for each other…support each other. I don’t think for a moment that this current study of Nehemiah we are going through is just about finding a new venue!
After the service I got to meet one of the organizers of the prayer event that is happening at Sovereign Stadium this Friday. It was amazing to hear the story of a real life “Nehemiah Mom” who felt like a prayer event needs to happen in York…gathered some friends…and made it happen. Check out their story. It’s happening this Friday
I am so excited for the five people that have now asked to be part of the Baptism next week! There is nothing more beautiful that folks taking a step of faith and making their Faith in Christ public through the act of water baptism! We have “room” in the tank for more… info@actionchurch.com
Thanks to everyone who makes actionchurch possible each week. Your creativity…sacrifice…and hard work is NOT unnoticed or unappreciated!